New Schools Network (NSN) is a charity that is passionate about improving the quality of education in England. NSN was established in 2009 with the aim of improving the quality of education, by increasing the number of good school places available within the state sector and by supporting free schools and academy trusts.

NSN actively improves the quality of education in a number of distinct ways, including providing advisory services that support the creation of free schools and running the Academy Ambassadors (AA) programme which recruits high-calibre board members from business as non-executive directors (NEDs) to multi- academy trusts. NSN is one of the most prominent voices across the education sector and play a key role in shaping the wider conversation.

Improving the life chances of young people, particularly the disadvantaged, is critical to the UK’s social

and economic success.

We have some brilliant schools in our country, but there are not enough good places to go round. Free schools and academies are helping disadvantaged pupils access a high-quality education.

In 2010 there were 200 academies in England. Today, eight years later there are 8,000 academy

schools and approximately 50% of young people in England are educated in academies.

In the last eight years, NSN has supported two thirds of the 700 approved free schools, while helping to recruit more than 1,100 non-executive directors to academy trust boards.

By working together, inspirational educationalists and talented business leaders can provide a better future for the next generation.

What’s the next challenge?

Good governance is recognised as a top Ministerial priority and the best way to secure long-term

The Opportunity

Title: NED Recruitment Manager

Reporting line: To the Head of the Academy Ambassadors Programme

Location: This is a full time role based in Lambeth, London (However, we are open to a 4 day week)

Key Responsibilities:

This is a unique role in that you will focus on engaging with senior executive NED candidates with the intention of recruiting non-executive director volunteers for opportunities within multi- academy trusts throughout England.

You will engage with senior candidates across a multitude of functional specialisms, including Finance, Marketing, Legal, HR, Risk, IT, Procurement and Real Estate. You will be the link to connect senior business people into education.

You will be accountable for ensuring that Academy Ambassadors introduces candidates with the relevant functional skills, together with strong governance and leadership capabilities.

You will enjoy research and market-mapping as you will have responsibility for creating and maintaining a pipeline of candidates. It goes without saying that you will be comfortable on LinkedIn.

Ability to generate referral candidates will be highly prized. To help with this, Academy Ambassadors also has strong relationships with blue chip corporate organisations and an impressive Academy Ambassadors NED community (as AA has made over 1000 NED appointments over the last 5 years).

All NED placements made by AA are on a pro bono basis … so the role of the NED Recruitment Manager is to understand the motivations of candidates applying for these roles.

The business development activities to generate the vacancies on the boards of the multi-academy trusts is the responsibility of a team of educational Regional Advisers. So this role has a heavy emphasis on the generation of high calibre NED candidates.

People management – there will be at least one assistant reporting into this role.

Project management – you will act as a project manager for all live NED vacancies – where the Regional Advisers will have a dotted reporting line to you.

Work as part of a team to continuously improve our service and ensure the recruitment service complies with recruitment best-practice and relevant industry codes.

Skills needed to be successful in the role:

You will be a seasoned head-hunter with 5 to 10 years’ experience of hiring. You may currently be in- house, working in search or an established contingency agency.

You will have a strong track record of engaging successfully with senior professionals across a variety of functions. Experience of hiring into Finance, HR and Legal would be useful.

You will be comfortable interviewing senior candidates and have an ability to assess their capabilities (both technical and interpersonally) to undertake a NED role in high profile multi-academy trusts. You will be experienced at establishing minimum capability criteria and realigning candidate expectations when they do not meet the minimum skills required by the trusts.

You will be a pragmatic leader with personal flexibility to adjust swiftly to changing external circumstances without losing long-term focus on outcomes.

You will bring good strategic and analytical skills, coupled with the gravitas and credibility to engage with senior NEDs and colleagues on a peer to peer basis. You will have prior evidence of having

successfully cultivated new relationships and partnerships that have resulted in tangible outcomes.

Throughout your career you will have lived by good governance practices and personally you will be able to testify to a keen sense of integrity.

This is a hands-on role, you will be self-motivating and enjoy inspiring others to thrive in a dynamic environment.

As an individual you will be able to demonstrate a belief in the importance of a good education for all children.

How to apply

To apply please send a CV and a tailored covering letter demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria above to jobs@newschoolsnetwork.org by Midnight Thursday 29th November 2018. Please also includedetails of your current salary and notice period. If you have any questions please email jobs@newschoolsnetwork.org.

Please be aware we may appoint before the closing date and if you are interested in the role you are strongly advised to email jobs@newschoolsnetwork.org to register your interest.

Please note the timetable below:

Deadline for applications: Midnight Thursday 29th November 2018

First-round telephone interviews: 5th December 2018

Face-to-face interviews at London office: afternoon of 10th December 2018.

Unfortunately, due to the number of applications we receive we are only able to contact shortlisted applicants. Applications without a tailored letter will not be considered.

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